ANZAC day and ‘lest we forget’: Why?
How imperialism, racism & white supremacy lie at the core of the ANZAC day celebrations and why the 21st century has no place for this outdated nation-state-worshiping tradition, anywhere, ever.
Military intelligence is an oxymoron.
In one of his most epic tales about the futility of war and human idiocy, the science fiction novel Cat's Cradle, the indelible American writer Kurt Vonnegut once wrote the following:
“And I propose to you that if we are to pay our sincere respects to the hundred lost children of San Lorenzo, that we might best spend the day despising what killed them; which is to say, the stupidity and viciousness of all mankind.”
He is, of course, referring to war and the stupidity of the military. He then goes on with this:
“Perhaps, when we remember wars, we should take off our clothes and paint ourselves blue and go on all fours all day long and grunt like pigs. That would surely be more appropriate than noble oratory and shows of flags and well-oiled guns.”
I have lived in New Zealand for 18 years now, my mother is from New Zealand for those of you who don’t know, and my father is German. I spent my childhood and adolescence in Germany and then chose to move here later on when I was in my mid twenties. Both of my grandfathers were in their respective militaries during the second world war. Fighting each other if you will.
As such I have always grown up realising the immense futility and insanity of war and the existence of militaries. Having fully grasped the atrocities committed by the Germans during this war, I have never understood the aggrandisement of such an endeavour by any party, particularly by countries who comprised the “allied forces,” namely the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. The prancing about of veterans in their old military garb, being honoured and worshiped by those less informed about the events. Especially in our day and age, when we are worried about a full on nuclear conflict between the two largest nuclear arsenals the world has ever seen following the invasion of Ukraine in February. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
What is war, if not the unmistakable indictment of how uncivilised our ‘civilisations’ really are.
This is how the publisher, Penguin books, sums up Cat’s Cradle:
A brilliant science-fiction satire from one of the best writers of the twentieth century: Dr Felix Hoenikker - a father of the atomic bomb - has another creation. Far more dangerous than that which levelled Hiroshima is ice-nine, a chemical that could freeze the world's oceans solid. The search for Hoenikker leads first to his three children, each in possession of the chemical, and then to the Republic of San Lorenzo, a mysterious island in thrall to a bizarre religion. First published a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cat's Cradle is shot through with a nauseous anxiety about the nuclear apocalypse. Yet Vonnegut's darkly hilarious dissection of apathy and selfishness on the edge of the abyss speaks clearly to our own environmental angst and to the fragility of civilization.
Vonnegut also wrote a book about the atrocious annihilation of the city of Dresden in his book Slaughterhouse Five, where he really shines a light on the ludicrousness of war. Slaughterhouse is a semi-autobiographical tale detailing his experience as a German prisoner of war during this aerial bombardment, where he witnessed the deaths of 100s of 1000s of German civilians first hand - even helping to clear the bodies for weeks on end. In March 2019, the print edition of the New York Times Book Review had an essay by the writer Kevin Powers entitled “Slaughterhouse-Five at 50,” wherein Powers argues that “this book is among the most humane works of art ever” and emphasises “Vonnegut’s unmatched moral clarity.”
The most recent June edition of The Economist also has an excellent article on Mother Night, Vonneguts’s novel about the use of propaganda during wartime.
The bombing of Dresden was indeed an example of the more macabre nature of war and how in such a scenario, there are no “good guys.” Only bad guys with guns and missiles. And yes, nuclear bombs.
“Lest we forget”: It’s more about oil than protecting the world
And so we have it, that on the 25th of April 2022, a full two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, spiralled the world on to the brink of nuclear war once again, here in New Zealand we ‘celebrated’ ANZAC day, where all the aforementioned military veterans went out at dawn in their regalia and witnessed canons being fired and vigils with tens of thousands of people all the country getting up and ‘paying their respects’ to the fallen soldiers nearly 80 years ago. To honour the sacrifice of Australians and New Zealanders in fighting off facism and the imperialist agenda of the Germans.
ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and most people do not realise why this military alliance had originally been formed. In 2015, Chris Trotter wrote an excellent op-ed, What were the ANZACS fighting for?, where he tried to outline the history of ANZAC. It might surprise some of you, that the original ANZACs were deployed in 1915 to defend British oil interests in the, then, Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, which the British had invaded a couple of years prior. Speaking of imperialism, right? So protecting and upholding one imperialist’s ambitions over another seems to smack of hypocrisy to someone coming at this from an objective viewpoint. Are there double standards at play or is it just your typical nation state propaganda that always seems to manage to glorify one side whilst vilifying another.
Now I won’t go into the details of the imperialist ambition (read, ‘atrocity’) of the British army over the last couple of centuries, but it is safe to say that the phrase “the sun never sets on the British empire” did not just originate out of thin air. But I did want to point out another slight hypocrisy employed in all of these ANZAC day festivities. The term, “lest we forget.”
This phrase was lifted from the poem "Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling. It was originally composed for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, in 1897, and is an average poem containing five stanzas of six lines each, that proceeds to celebrate, yet at the same time, warn of the transience of the British empire, if they do not remain vigilant to outside forces. If anything, the poem is an ode to the greatness of white people and how they should always be on the lookout for foreign enemies, aware of losing their grip on power over the rest of the world. The poem and its inspiration is actually quite fitting seeing our world is heading toward a recession and the British just celebrated another monarch’s jubilee, this time a whopping platinum one!! Wow. Congrats Lizzy!!
Kipling actually plagiarised the line ‘lest we forget’ from the Old Testament, namely the book of Deutoronomy, 8:11-18, wherein the author (Moses, apparently) went on to say:
“Lest we forget the lord our God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’”
Trust me I have read several interpretations of these verses and they all differ. But don’t you worry, ALL of them contain a shout out to scorpions and serpents, so at least all the bible scholars are in agreement on that. But back to Rudyard Kipling.
War does not determine who is right - only who is left
Not only was he a plagiarist, but Kipling was also an ardent racist, misogynist, warmonger and anti-Semite among other things. When you look closely you’ll find evidence for this in most of his publications, yes even his most lauded poem, “If,” that used to actually get recited in schools in the US just after the pledge of allegiance to the flag. His tone-deaf racism is no more evident than in his supremely offensive 1899 poem “The White Man’s Burden,” in which Kipling set out to make the case for the US to join Britain in civilising “backward” (read, non-white) nations - ostensibly the Phillipines, which Kipling urged the US to invade. If you want to read more about Kipling and his purported fall from grace, read the excellent New Yorker book review Kipling in America by Charles McGrath.
So yes, ‘lest we forget’ to forget that stupid line, born of religious arrogance and white supremacy of centuries far gone and attitudes now completely outdated. Every time you say lest we forget, you might as well say a thoughtful eulogy about slavery and include the “N” word at the end.
As a human being of partial German ‘heritage,’ witnessing the ANZAC day festivities in New Zealand is a bizarre experience. Especially when juxtaposed to the horrors of war. I myself was forced to take part in the military, back when Germany had made it mandatory for every 18 year old to serve at least one year. The experience taught me how truly archaic (and yes, uncivilised) that institution really is. Speaking of backward. My time in the air force made me detest authority and anyone who glorified its existence.
In Germany war is never glamorised or celebrated, for obvious reasons. Their 20th century audacious military exploits showed the extent to which humanity can stoop to the lowest form of existence, referring to the attempt at wiping out an entire group of people based on their ethnicity or supposed “backwardness” (- thanks for the word Rudyard!") In Germany, plaques, museums, moments of silence and statues are created to warn us of the danger of war, not to celebrate it.
Yes, neither the military nor war, nor supposed ‘sacrifice’ is ever something to celebrate.
It would probably be more apt for us to take off our clothes, paint ourselves blue and go on all fours all day long and grunt like pigs when we remember wars. That type of setting would be more applicable than shooting off cannons to trumpet sounds whilst watching military planes fly overhead in formation, with our flags in hand.
Lest we forget this nonsense. The sooner we rid ourselves of our militaries, the closer we will get to salvation (nod to Moses) and in turn enlightenment. And of course that wonderful of all words “civilised.”
Like when Ghandi was asked about what he thought of “western civilisation”:
“I think it would be a good idea”
Amen.
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Load of bollocks!!!